The Letters of Cassiodorus Part 78

'The custom of the ancients was for a new ruler to promulgate a new set of laws to his subjects, but now it is sufficient praise to a conscientious ruler that he adheres to the legislation of Antiquity.

'Do you all study to perform good actions, and shrink from deeds of lawlessness and sedition, and you will have nothing to fear from your Governors. I know that some fear, however irrational, is felt in the presence of the Judge; but as far as my purpose can avail, with the help of G.o.d and the rulers of the State[748], I can promise you that all things shall be done with justice and moderation.

[Footnote 748: 'Juvante Deo, rerumque Dominis regnantibus.']

'Venality, that greatest stain upon a Judge's character, will be unknown in me; for I should think scorn to sell the words that go out of my lips, like clothes in the market-place.

'In exercising the right of pre-emption we shall be solely guided by the wants of the State, buying nothing at a forced price in order to sell it again[749].

[Footnote 749: 'Sperari a vobis aliquid sola specierum indigentia faciet, non malitiosa venalitas ... nec ad taxationem trahimus quae necessaria non habentur.']

'Be cheerful and of good courage, therefore, with reference to the new administration. No soldier or civil servant shall hara.s.s you for his own pleasure. No tax-collector shall load you with burdens of his own imposition. We are determined to keep not only our own hands clean, but also those of our officials. Otherwise, vainly does a good Judge guard himself from receiving money, if he leaves to the many under him licence to receive it on their own account. But we, both by precept and example, show that we aim at the public good, not at private and fraudulent gains.

'We know what prayers you put up for us, how anxiously you watched for our elevation, and we are determined that you shall not be disappointed. Our Praetorium, which no base action has ever denied, shall be open to all. No servile throng shall lord it over you. You shall come straight to us, making your requests known to us through no hired interpreter, and none shall leave our presence poorer than he entered it. With G.o.d's help we trust we shall so act as to conform to the instructions which we have received from our Sovereign[750]; and we trust that you, by your loyalty, will enable us to be rather the Father of our Provinces than their Judge. You have patiently obeyed governors who fleeced you; how much more ought you to obey one who, as you know, loves you mightily! Pay the regular fees to the officials who are labouring in your midst; for there is no such excuse for high-handed oppression as the fact that a man is not receiving his covenanted salary. Obey the rule of reason, and you will not have to fear the armed man's wrath.

[Footnote 750: 'Quemadmodum a rerum Dominis mandata suscepimus.']

'We wish that you should enjoy the privileges conceded to you by former rulers without any encroachment by violent men.

'And now be of good heart; I pledge myself for your righteous government. Had I been present with you face to face, ye could not have seen my mind; but ye can read it in this letter, which is the mirror of my heart, the true image of my will, and ye can see that it desires only your prosperity.'

9. SENATOR, PRAETORIAN PRAEFECT, TO THE JUDGES OF THE PROVINCES.

[Sidenote: Exhortation to the Judges to govern in conformity with the Edict.]

'Knowing that past suffering makes men anxious and timid as to the future, we have put forth an edict [the preceding doc.u.ment] in order to rea.s.sure the minds of the Provincials, and to deliver them from the torment of ever-present fear.

'Therefore we call upon your Excellency[751] to cause this edict to be exposed in all the places which are most resorted to. Thus let the love and devotion of all cla.s.ses be excited towards our happy Sovereigns[752], that as our thoughts towards the people are entirely thoughts of goodwill, so their dispositions towards the rulers who govern them in righteousness may be only loyal[753].

[Footnote 751: 'Dicatio tua.']

[Footnote 752: 'Circa Dominos felices.']

[Footnote 753: 'Ita se et illi devotos debent _pie regnantibus_ exhibere.' Compare again Claudian's words:

'Nunquam libertas gratior exstat, Quam sum _rege pio_.']

'It now rests with you, by your just government of the Provincials, to carry our promises into effect.

'Remember that the official staff standing by, is a witness of the acts of every one of you; and so comport yourselves, that both they and all others may see that you in your own conduct obey the laws which you administer.

'Be more anxious to remedy the poverty of the Provincials than to inflict punishment upon them. So act that when you are giving an account of your stewards.h.i.+p your year of office may be felt to have been all too short[754]. If you have acted justly, and earned the goodwill of your Provincials, you will have no need of gifts to stave off accusations.

[Footnote 754: 'Sic agite ut c.u.m just.i.tia probata quaeritur, annus vester brevis esse videatur.']

'We do not appoint any spies upon your actions, and we pray you so to act that this most humiliating expedient may not be necessary.

'If you meet with any who pertinaciously set themselves up against the authority of your _fasces_, send us at once a messenger with your report; or, if you cannot spare such an one, send the report alone, as you have authority to use the public postal-service[755]. Thus all excuse for remissness on your part is taken away, since you can either wield your power or explain to us the hindrances which beset you.'

[Footnote 755: 'Quando et evectiones publicas accepistis et n.o.bis gratum sit audire de talibus.']

10. SENATOR, PRAETORIAN PRAEFECT, TO BEATUS, VIR CLARISSIMUS AND CANCELLARIUS.

[Sidenote: Davus is invalided to the Mons Lactarius.]

'Our lord the King[756] (whose prayer it is that he may ever rejoice in the welfare of all his subjects), when he reflected upon the impaired health of his servant Davus[757], ordered him to seek to the healing properties of the Mons Lactarius[758], for the cure which medical aid seemed powerless to bestow. A frequent cough resounded from his panting chest, his limbs were becoming emaciated, and the food which he took seemed to have lost all power to nourish his frame.

Persons in this state can neither feed nor endure to fast, and their bodies seem like leaky casks, from which all strength must soon dribble away.

[Footnote 756: 'Rerum Domini clementia.']

[Footnote 757: Or David, according to some MSS.]

[Footnote 758: This is no doubt the mountain on whose skirts was fought the decisive battle between Na.r.s.es and Teias in 553, now known as Monte Lettere. It is a spur of the range reaching from Sorrento to Salerno, which attains its highest elevation in Monte San Angelo (4,690 feet high). It rises opposite to Mount Vesuvius on the south-east, the ruins of Pompeii and the valley of the Sarno (formerly the Draco) lying between the two.]

[Sidenote: The milk-cure, a remedy for consumption.]

'As an antidote to this cruel malady Heaven has given us the Mons Lactarius, where the salubrious air working together with the fatness of the soil has produced a herbage of extraordinary sweetness. The cows which are fed on this herbage give a milk which seems to be the only remedy for consumptive patients who have been quite given over by their physicians. As sleep refreshes the weary limbs of toil, so does this milk fill up the wasted limbs and restore the vanished strength.

Strange is it to see the herds feeding on this abundant pasture. They look as if it did not profit them at all. Thin and scraggy, as they wander through the thickets they look like the patients who seek their aid; yet their milk is so thick that it sticks to the milker's fingers.

'Do you therefore supply the invalid when he arrives, with the appointed rations and pecuniary allowance, that he may be suitably maintained in that place while he is recreating his exhausted energies with the food of infancy.

'And, oh! all ye who are suffering under the like grievous malady, lift up your hearts. There is hope for you. By no bitter antidote, but by a delicious draught, you shall imbibe life--life, in itself the sweetest of all things.'

11. EDICT CONCERNING PRICES TO BE MAINTAINED AT RAVENNA.

[Sidenote: Prices at Ravenna.]

'The price at which provisions are sold ought to follow, in a reasonable way, the circ.u.mstances of the times, that there may be neither cheapness in a dear season, nor dearness in a cheap one, and that the grumblings of both buyers and sellers may be avoided, by fairness being observed towards both.

'Therefore, after careful consideration, we have fixed in the subjoined schedule the prices of the various articles of produce, which prices are to remain free from all ambiguity.

'If any vendor does not observe the prices named in the present edict, he will be liable to a fine of six solidi (3 12s.) for each violation of the law, and may be visited by corporal punishment[759].'

[Footnote 759: 'Per singulos excessus s.e.x solidorum mulctam a se noverit exigendam et fustuario posse subjacere supplicio.']

[The schedule mentioned in this letter is unfortunately not preserved.

Few doc.u.ments that Ca.s.siodorus could have handed down to posterity would have been more valuable. If we could have compared it with the celebrated Edict of Stratonicea (cir. A.D. 301), we should have seen what changes had been wrought in the value of the precious metals and the distribution of wealth during the two centuries of disturbance and barbaric invasion which had elapsed since the reign of Diocletian.

But, unfortunately, Ca.s.siodorus believed that his rhetoric and his natural history would be more interesting to us than these vulgar facts.]

12. EDICT CONCERNING PRICES ALONG THE FLAMINIAN WAY.

[Sidenote: Prices per Viam Flaminiam.]

'If prices need to be fixed for the leisurely inhabitant of a town, much more for the traveller, whose journey may otherwise become a burden instead of a pleasure. Let strangers therefore find that they are entertained by you at fixed prices. To fawn upon them with feigned politeness and then terrify them with enormous charges is the act of a highway robber. Do you not know how much better moderate prices would suit your own purpose? Travellers would gladly flock to your accommodation-houses[760] if they found that you treated them fairly.